Lloyd Smith Furniss 1918-2011

My vivacious, intelligent, hilarious, classic grandfather passed away last week, just after his 93rd birthday. My, how the memories have been swirling this week. When my friend, Tiffany, heard of his passing, she asked, "Is Grandpa Furniss the one who lived with you guys for a while and had a beautiful set of white hair?" Yes. Oh, that hair.

As far as funerals go, his had to be one of the most fun. The man had the best sense of humor, stories that have the makings of legends, and a life filled to the brim with fun. There were plenty, plenty of tears, but I felt like so much of the day was spent celebrating his life. A lot of stories couldn't be shared as the service was held in a chapel :) but he was one of the rare few who can get away with that little streak of wickedness and still have people just adore him. And I learned a few things! I always knew Grandpa appreciated the female form, but I didn't know he had such a thing for legs! And Grandma did have a nice set of legs :)

I had never been to a service for a veteran, but it was quite touching and reverent. The whole funeral was done so well and I'm happy there were a lot of laughs. As Melissa put it, 'We laughed and cried and laughed so hard we cried.'

Grandpa lived in our home for most of my pre-teen and teenage years. I'm so thankful I have the earlier memories with his vigor for life. And I'm thankful I got to know him so well in his later years, of him staying positive and cheerful when so much of his freedom was gone. He was incredibly intelligent and always had a book nearby. And he was so funny. He met Hayden at a dinner at my parent's home when she was about three months old. He looked over at her and said, "Hello, new citizen," then nonchalantly said, "You and I both wear diapers."

Aunt Peggy, Grandpa Furniss, and my dad, Mark--around 1953

I love thinking of him with Grandma again. I love thinking of him in his strong, healthy body now. And I love all the memories I have of a really special Grandfather.

A one, A two...

There was a beautiful dvd slideshow playing at my grandpa's funeral with the most incredible pictures of him in his young adult life. The man was a looker! And on his arm was my petite Grandma, always in a perfectly classic dress or overcoat. I was hoping to snag some while I was there, along with some of his artwork for the new nursery, but no luck this time. Well, no luck as far as that goes. Pretty darn lucky with what I found, though.

Grandpa had quite the accomplished career as a photographer, from pictures being published in Life magazine, Sports Illustrated, etc to working with famous celebrities. I was able to use one of his cameras for a class in college and needed his help figuring out the meter. I remember him saying that eventually you wouldn't need a meter, you would look at the light and know how it would eat away at the film. I'm not quite there :) My aunt and uncle were very sweet to haul down album after album of my grandfather's pictures for us to go through. I don't think there was any better way to spend the day then going through his books and reliving memories through them with my extended family. The thought was running through my mind this past week that I don't recall my grandpa being intrusive about his picture taking. I don't remember him 'setting up' shots, or getting in the way of our fun, or saying, "Look here! Over here! Smile, hold it...." He captured our lives in a very real way. So since I don't have some of those gorgeous pictures of him and grandma (that I'm just itching to get my hands on), I thought I would post some I found of me as a newborn.

To say I treasure these is an understatement! I love the colors and the lighting and the people. We try to get this look in photoshop after taking the shot and somehow he got it with just his Nikon and his dark room. I had only seen the picture below before, the rest were new to me. In fact, I only found these because I went searching for this one:

The picture is dated the 4th of July, 1983, which means this is the Barlow bash in Lewiston, Utah. And that's my sweet Grandma Furniss, passing a three-month-old me to my Grandma Barlow. I love that my mom and Grandpa Barlow (who passed away shortly thereafter) are pictured as well.

My parents canoodling on a Sunday afternoon :)

A few of my Grandma Furniss and me, how I miss that sweet lady. She was about as proper as they come and I chuckled this week thinking of her scolding Grandpa for swearing in front of us. He would undoubtably say, "Ah, hell, Carol." And that would be it :) My favorite story from the funeral (and there were some good ones!) was of the two of them watching a movie with my cousins. At one part, Grandma frowned and said, "Oh, that Hollywood kissing!" to which Grandpa replied, "Hey, don't knock it 'till you try it!"

And these last two of my parents, who were so missed this weekend. I'm not sure if my mom will love me posting this, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I must have it. See, my mom is a bit of a wonderwoman. I am...not. It's not that I love this picture in any sort of spiteful way, I love it because yes, my efficient, hard working, never-stopping mother was sometimes exhausted as well with the demands of a newborn. Ahh...I feel much better :)

Also, I would really like to know where this dress of hers is hiding.

Grandpa, thank you, thank you, thank you for these treasures. I miss you. I hope Heavenly Father lets you have your roller skates in heaven.